Baby joeys and homegrown talent make this tale a little ripper
A galaxy of local stars and an outstanding newcomer: Kangaroo reminds us how well Australians do animal-in-jeopardy films.
How to sell Australia to the world?
You could take the recent cluttered and difficult-to-follow Tourism Australia extravaganza that cost a tidy $130m to produce.
Or there’s Kangaroo, this little ripper of a family film that’s the first cab off the rank from the local arm of French production house StudioCanal (the team behind the Paddington films).
It sells the wonder of the beleaguered Alice Springs region, and Bondi Beach, to the world. Plus, baby joeys. In pouch-like pillow slips. In abundance. And who doesn’t love them.
Central Australia needs this film. Deserves it. Because over the past few years Alice Springs has been the lightning rod for hand-wringing politicians wanting to provide Band-Aids to the great open wound of Indigenous displacement.
But this film gives us another take entirely on the region, highlighting the dramatic beauty of a place like no other and the charm and wit of its locals, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike.
It’s the image of us the world wants to see.
This Kangaroo has nothing to do with DH Lawrence’s “thought-adventure” of a novel, or the Colin Friels/Judy Davis adaptation.
It’s an animal-in-jeopardy film of the kind Australia does so well. Think Storm Boy, Red Dog, Oddball, Blueback.
This year’s iteration centres around orphaned baby joeys and a particular breed of Australian male: punchy weather presenter on commercial breakfast TV.
The lead is played by Ryan Corr from House of the Dragon and Packed to the Rafters. He’s got the Karl-esque looks and beguiling sweetness, but doesn’t quite have the cheeky, forceful charisma of a Hoges or a Yahoo Serious to catapult this film into the territory of the unforgettable.
The real find is Indigenous actor, Lily Whiteley, playing a 12 year-old marooned in grief over her father’s death. It’s a performance of fierce vulnerability and a wounded grace; she also has a spectacular AFL kick to her. The supporting cast is a delicious mix of Antipodean comedic talent; you can almost feel the glee running under the surface as screen veterans Deborah Mailman, Genevieve Lemon, Ernie Dingo, Rachel House and Roy Billing deliver their lines.
The film’s glossy confidence reflects the experience of director, Kate Woods, fresh from the US after years buried in TV-land. It’s her first feature since smash hit Looking for Alibrandi, and a win for our local film industry to have her working here again.
Her film is packed with beautifully observed outback moments.
Kids perching on milk crates on a roof, desperate for phone signals. Kids lining up with laptops to get homework help from the resident larrikin genius. The hapless city slicker getting kitted out in a selection of baby pouches that will do just nicely for a joey.
Kangaroo follows the predictable path of children’s films, but it’s elevated by the sheer force of its plucky personality, thanks to its dry-as-a-bone wit from scriptwriter Harry Cripps (The Dry, Penguin Bloom.)
It’s all catnip for international audiences, and for parents despairing over what to do with bored, screen-addled kids these school holidays too.
Kangaroo (PG)
107 minutes
In cinemas
★★★★
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